Packing
by Miss I-Like-Too-Many-Fandoms
Summary: To put it mildly, Asami is freaking out about the impending vacation. Korra comes to her rescue. Sort of a prequel to Through the Portal.


**The Legend of Korra belongs to Nickelodeon. **

Shouldering her pack, Korra made her way down the hall, a smile crossing her features as she passed so many rooms that had been lived in, rooms that no one ever thought would be used. As she neared Asami's room, her pace quickened, her chest tightening in excitement. She paused briefly when she finally came to the door, fist hovering inches from the panel. With a deep breath, she knocked a soft rhythm.

Asami was panicking. Her usually painfully straight and tidy room was a war zone. Several pairs of shoes were scattered across the floor, most apart from their twin. Jackets covered her chair, which had been ripped away from the desk and sat in the middle of the room, balancing a strange assortment of items from a box of bolts to a green lightbulb. Her radio was blaring in the corner, the racket of trumpets and saxophones adding to the mess. Her large backpack lay flat on her bed, empty. Tools, various clothing, odds and ends, and a massive first aid kid were spread around the backpack.

At the knock, the heiress turned too quickly and slammed into the chair, nearly throwing herself in the floor. She hobbled around the obstacle and jerked the door open, running a hand backwards through her hair in an attempt to look less frazzled than she felt. The ebony locks were not an indicator to Korra, but the wide, shining green orbs were.

"Is something wrong?" The words had barely left her lips when Asami grabbed hold of her arm and hauled her inside, the door slamming behind her. They maneuvered around the chair, though Korra's foot caught on one of the legs and almost sent them both to the ground, cerulean eyes too busy scanning the madness around her to watch where she was walking. Asami busied herself at her bed, pale fingers shaking and rapidly tracing over and digging through the objects spread across the sheets. She had been too shocked at her sudden entrance into the room to have noticed before, but now released from the firm grip, Korra took in taller woman's appearance.

Asami had abandoned her jacket and tunic, leaving her in a wrinkled white tank top, which had ridden up to reveal a swath of pale skin. Her riding pants were slung much lower on her hips than usual, adding to the expanse of skin, her hip bones jutting out of the top of the fabric. Her feet were bare, which gave Korra almost more pause than the very distracting gap above her hips. A streak of black stained the engineer's neck, which Korra reached up to wipe at without thinking, earning her a very undignified squeak of surprise.

"You…um…have something on your neck. Grease I think?" Korra's fingers lingered.

"Oh. Must have happened when I was working on my moped." They smiled nervously at each other, both aware of what was between them but unwilling to broach the subject first.

"Planning on running off without me?" She had meant for her laugh to be more legitimate than it was, the noise coming out choked and pained from Korra's throat.

"Of course not." Asami reached up to squeeze the fingers still resting at her neck. "I was just rigging it so the kids can play with it. I adjusted its speed capabilities and tightened the brakes. I had forgotten how different our old and new braking systems are. I haven't worked on a model so old in years." She flushed and stopped talking, watching cerulean beginning to glaze over.

"Are you alright?" Korra's gaze returned to the mess laid out before her.

"Will you help me pack?"

"Sure!" She had considered questioning further but let the matter drop. Asami seemed uncomfortable enough as is though she appeared to relax when Korra agreed.

"Clothes?"

"Yes, please pack clothes." Korra smirked through the smack.

"What _kind_?"

"Doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Just doesn't matter. You can wear whatever you want. There's not weather there the way there's weather here. Just be comfortable." Confusion rested at her brow but Asami gave a nod, packing her usual tunics and pants, tucking in a spare jacket.

"Future Industries Flashlights?"

"No, Cabbage Corp ones. You sound like a commercial." She dodged the swipe aimed at her. "Yes, pack them. Why not."

"Swim wear?"

"Yes, please." Asami choked around her surprised laugh, thankfully missing Korra's blush.

"Candles?"

"No."

"Matches?"

"Seriously?" Korra waved a flame before the disgruntled nonbender.

"Tent?"

"No." Her answer was not as quick as before, Korra actually having to consider her response.

"Plates? Eating utensils?"

"No."

"Should I pack the dehydrated meal prototypes then?"

"No."

"What are we going to eat?"

"We're not."

"What?" Asami whirled on Korra, eyes wide.

"You won't be hungry."

"I repeat: what?"

"You won't be hungry or thirsty in the Spirit World."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You're helpful."

"Hey!"

"Retractable shovel?"

"Do you plan on digging for treasure or burying me? I'm just kidding. Calm down."

"Radio packs?"

"Do you even have room for those?"

"Maybe?"

"I don't even know if they would work there. I certainly did not plan on being far enough away from you to need a radio." Red blossomed across Asami's cheeks prettily as she returned to digging through her belongings, a small smile on her face.

"Tea?"

"Won't be thirsty, remember?"

"Oh, right. Soap?"

"What was that?"

"Soap. I would assume we would want to bathe at some point." Asami had already packed a few bars by the time Korra stuttered out a "yes," having been distracted for a few minutes by the idea of bathing.

Asami continued to bounce ideas off of Korra, her good mood beginning to fade as her panic returned. The room was even messier than before from all off of the discarded items. Asami's pack was still rather bare, the bedroll giving it most of its bulk.

"Tools?"

"What?"

"I don't know!" Pale fingers worked their way roughly back through ebony locks.

"Asami-"

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm…out of my element, so to speak." Korra's hand met Asami's shoulder as she turned her away from the bed.

"Hey, it's alright. You've packed everything you need, trust me. There's no reason to work yourself up over it. Everything will be fine. Unless…If you're having second thoughts, we don't have to go." Korra attempted to keep her expression as neutral as possible despite how much the words burned leaving her lips.

"No! No! I want to go, definitely. We're going. I'm just nervous. I was being stupid. I'm sorry."

"You're going on vacation somewhere that's not even in this world. It's not stupid to be nervous, just not…this nervous." She waved her hand over Asami, chuckling. "You'll understand when we get there, I promise." The tension eased from the taller woman's shoulders as they smiled at each other.

"Alright. Then," Asami turned and with only a bit of hesitance, closed her pack up, "I'm ready to go."

Korra still made fun of how much bigger Asami's backpack was than hers all through dinner.


End file.
